Not Muggle or Witch
by Strega Mione
Summary: When Mrs. Figg makes a mistake, Harry meets a girl unlike any other and gets swept into her destiny. This girl isn't a witch...but che sure doesn't seem like a muggle either!
1. Mrs. Figg's Calendar

Harry was stuck with Mrs. Figg again.  
  
  
  
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The Dursleys were celebrating some great business deal Uncle Vernon had made by going on a cruise in Tahiti. Without Harry, of course.  
  
Harry felt stupid. He had expected that he would go, too. But when he asked what he should pack for Tahiti, Aunt Petunia laughed in his face.  
  
"And why would we take you to Tahiti with us to spoil our trip?! Ha! No, boy, you're staying with Mrs. Figg."  
  
"Oh, " said Harry.  
  
He considered threatening her with telling his godfather, Sirius, who had been arrested for murder. (Harry never saw a point in letting the Dursleys know that Sirius Black was innocent). But then he looked up and saw the calendar. The cruise was scheduled from August 26th to September 5th. He would miss the train to school if he went to Tahiti, so he said nothing about Sirius. Instead, Harry braced himself and asked Uncle Vernon, "How will I get to Kings Cross to catch the train for, er, school?"  
  
Uncle Vernon turned a nasty purple shade at the mention of his school and grunted, "Suppose Mrs. Figg'll have to take you to London."  
  
**********************  
  
So now Harry was stuck with Mrs. Figg for a week. She had several new cats, all of whom she had to introduce to Harry individually. Harry, having never spent more than a day or two at a time with Mrs. Figg before, had never realized how much she depended on her desk calendar. She wrote everything on this calendar. She never failed to rip off a day, so it always had the correct date, unlike most people with desk calendars, who tend to leave it on January 2nd when it's actually July 31st. She lived by that calendar. If it wasn't on the calendar, it wasn't happening. On the second day of his stay, Mrs. Fig realized that she needed to go to the grocery store soon. She said "Oh dear, I can't go today, I haven't marked it on the calendar. I'll have to put it down for Wednesday."  
  
On Saturday, Mrs. Figg went upstairs to read to one of her cats, and Harry figured he'd watch some TV.  
  
"Where's the remote?" Harry muttered, standing up and searching around for it. He wanted to find the remote to put on the mute during commercials. He was tired of hearing about how he should buy a new Camry with low percent APR financing, or ask his doctor about some Asthma medicine.  
  
" Ouch!" Harry tripped over an afghan-covered ottoman by Mrs. Figg's desk. Flailing his arms, he managed to stand up straight again. He didn't notice that he had hit the desk calendar, ripping of a page which went sailing neatly down into the trashcan.  
  
"Aha!" He saw the remote.  
  
Mrs. Figg came down to make dinner at 7. (She had read a whole novel to Snowflake, her cat. Harry thought the cat had fallen asleep, but Mrs. Figg said that Snowflake enjoyed the book very much). Her first stop was the calendar to see what she had scheduled to make for dinner today.  
  
"Oh, gracious me!" said Mrs. Figg. "I thought it was Thursday! But it's Friday!"  
  
Harry frowned. "That's impossible." He said. "You were going to go to the store Wednesday, and you went to the store yesterday, which means today must be Thursday."  
  
"That cannot be correct! I have very good calendar keeping skills! If my calendar says it's Friday, then it's Friday!" Mrs. Figg, looking more menacing than ever, tried to tower over him, but was too short and fell onto the couch when she rose onto her toes. Harry struggled not to laugh, but he never had been a very good actor.  
  
"Are you laughing at me?" cried Mrs. Figg imperiously. Then, out of the blue, she began laughing. Harry let it out and began cracking up. He fell on an ottoman, laughing so hard he thought he'd break apart into a million pieces, right along with Mrs. Figg. For the first time, he thought that maybe, just maybe, Mrs. Figg wasn't so bad.  
  
Two days later, Mrs. Figg took Harry to King's Cross Station. She stopped in front of Platform 9, which he had told her was his platform number.  
  
"Thank you!" said Harry.  
  
"See you next year, sonny." Mrs. Figg waved.  
  
Harry lugged his trunk and Hedwig out of the car, turned around, and walked down into the station. He looked up at the electric sign that always had the date and time. He wanted to see how much time he had before the train left. He expected to see " Sunday, September 1, 10:45 AM" or so.  
  
It read:  
  
SATURDAY, AUGUST 31 10:45 AM 


	2. The Meeting, Wizard

*Okay, last time I forgot the disclaimer, so: I claim no ownership of any characters you recognize, Harry Potter is copy-right JK, etc. And sorry for taking so long! Here it is:*  
  
  
  
Harry stared at the digital clock.  
  
SATURDAY, AUGUST 31  
  
SATURDAY, AUGUST 31  
  
SATURDAY, AUGUST 31  
  
It rang in his head over and over. How could he be here a day early? Mrs. Figg couldn't have messed up that badly. He himself had seen the calendar before they left.  
  
The calendar…  
  
Harry remembered the conversation he'd had with Mrs. Figg two days ago, when he had began to sort-of get along with her…  
  
"Oh, gracious me!" said Mrs. Figg. "I thought it was Thursday! But it's Friday!"  
  
Harry frowned. "That's impossible." He said. "You were going to go to the store Wednesday, and you went to the store yesterday, which means today must be Thursday."  
  
"That cannot be correct! I have very good calendar keeping skills! If my calendar says it's Friday, then it's Friday!" Mrs. Figg, looking more menacing than ever, tried to tower over him, but was too short and fell onto the couch when she rose onto her toes. Harry struggled not to laugh, but he never had been a very good actor.  
  
"Are you laughing at me?" cried Mrs. Figg imperiously…  
  
  
  
He had been right! Her calendar must be a page ahead!  
  
But that wasn't the problem. He was stranded here for a day, with only three or four pounds in muggle money. If only some of his wizarding money was muggle money. The only place he could think of that would exchange the money would be Gringotts. But he had no idea how to get from Kings Cross to the Leaky Cauldron. There must be another place that exchanged money…oh, yes, now he remembered! There was a booth in Platform 9 ¾.  
  
Platform 9 ¾! Of course! How could he have not thought of it before now? He'd just go to Platform 9 ¾. He could reach the wizarding world, just like that. He'd better go now, before he attracted too much attention because of Hedwig.  
  
Harry wheeled his dolly over to the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. He stepped through, relieved, and looked up.  
  
There was no one there but a janitor, scrubbing some graffiti off the wall. He was a little disappointed, but at least there was somebody there.  
  
"Um, excuse me sir." The janitor looked up.  
  
"What're you doing here? No one's supposed to be here! Out!" cried the janitor, brandishing a scrubber at Harry.  
  
"But you see, I accidentally ended up here early, and-"  
  
"So? That's none of my business. No one should be at this isolated little station here today." He began to mutter under his breath, "and a strange station it is, too. What a peculiar name!"  
  
" But- I have my owl with me, and there are loads of muggles out there. I can't go back."  
  
The janitor turned and peered at him." You have a what with you? Muggles? Huh? Can't go back where?"  
  
" To Kin-" It occurred to Harry that this man was probably a muggle, and stopped. " Never mind. I'll go."  
  
The janitor humped. "Good. Get out of here."  
  
Harry wheeled his dolly around, and waited till the man was looking away. Then he passed through the barrier and looked around the station. Now what was he going to do?  
  
He went into the waiting room. Maybe he could stay here through the night. It probably wouldn't close. After all, trains came and went at all hours. But what would he do until night, when he could sleep? He opened his trunk. Harry supposed he could study, but that sounded very unappealing at the moment. Instead, he took out the quidditch book Ron had given him for Christmas a year or two ago.  
  
Harry must have fallen asleep, because next thing he knew, a young employee in a red uniform was shaking him awake.  
  
"Excuse me, sir," said the girl, snapping her gum loudly. She spoke with an accent like that that he had heard once in a movie set in New York. She pointed at a sign. " You'll have to leave."  
  
Harry groaned when he read the sign:  
  
|Open weekdays: | | | |All hours | | | |Open Weekends: | | | |4 AM – 6 PM | | | | |  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Sorry." Harry muttered. He put his trunk and Hedwig in her cage on the dolly and rolled it out of the waiting room. Outside, there were still plenty of people around. Harry's stomach growled. Hedwig cooed plaintively.  
  
" I know, Hedwig." Said Harry, petting her beak. "Let's try and find some cheap food."  
  
He looked around. All the food shops seemed to be classy restaurants or expensive coffee cafes.  
  
Maybe there was a fast food place or something further down. Harry turned and wheeled down the tunnel. He passed platform 8, 7, and 6 without any success. He almost passed the little diner-type restaurant in front of platform 5. It was hidden, small amongst the huge stores trying to lure in tourists.  
  
Harry went over to the counter and sat on a stool. A girl was standing there, drying a glass. She wore a blue, button-up dress uniform with a little apron over top of it. She was on the short side. Her long, honey-brown hair covered her face as she bent over to get the inside edges of the glass dry.  
  
Harry didn't want to disturb her yet, but looked up at the menu. He figured he'd get two burgers to share with Hedwig. They'd be cheap and fairly filling. He cleared his throat.  
  
"Um, excuse me…" ventured Harry.  
  
The girl looked up. Harry blinked. The girl couldn't be older than him. (Was 15 a usual age to begin working?) Her creamy skin set nicely with her hair. Her light blue eyes looked abnormally large amidst her petite features.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, may I help you?" the girl asked politely, smiling.  
  
" Um, could I have two hamburgers please?"  
  
" Sure, of course. " she said. She began to grill two patties, and while she worked attentively, Harry felt something was odd about her; maybe it was her eyes. Something about her seemed to be drifting.  
  
"Here you go, " she said kindly, sliding a platter towards him. " That's 1 pound."  
  
" Is that it?" Harry said, faintly surprised. Burgers were usually closer to 1.2 or 1.3 pounds.  
  
"Well…technically no. Just don't tell Mr. Boorgish."  
  
Harry was confused. "Why would you lower the price?" Surely she wasn't flirting with him.  
  
She seemed to read his mind. " I'm not hitting on you. I just thought it better that you saved your money."  
  
"Why?" Harry looked down at his clothes. They were a bit rumpled, but surely he didn't look like a tramp or anything.  
  
The girl shrugged. "Dunno. I just got a feeling you were worried about it. Listen, I didn't mean to insult you. If you want, you can pay full price…" she smiled, but looked a bit anxious.  
  
" No, don't worry about it." Harry said and handed over a pound. She smiled, relieved.  
  
This is ridiculous, Harry thought. I'm forgiving her for giving me a deal??  
  
The girl sighed." I'm so hungry." She looked at the food around her. Biting her lip, she seemed to give in to temptation. " Won't tell Mr. Boorgish if I have some ice cream?"  
  
" Of course not, " said Harry, though he had no idea who this Mr. Boorgish was.  
  
The girl sighed. She pulled a stool out from her side of the counter and sat down opposite him. She pulled out a bowl and some ice cream.  
  
"My names Leia, by the way."  
  
" I'm Harry."  
  
The girl- Leia- scooped out some ice cream, and looked at the container hard, smoothing it over. " There. Mr. Boorgish'll never see the difference."  
  
"Who's Mr. Boorgish?" asked Harry before he could stop himself.  
  
"He owns this place. Lets me work here," Leia said lightly.  
  
"Why do you work here? No offence or anything, but the few people our age who actually have jobs don't work on Saturdays."  
  
"Oh, well, if I didn't work here, I'd have nowhere else to sleep," she seemed unperturbed. " I get hardly any money, I work for food and rent."  
  
Harry blinked. "Oh. Um. I'm sorry."  
  
"Why? I don't mind. I've been homeless for as long as I can remember. I get along however I can." Said Leia.  
  
"What about your parents?"  
  
" I don't know. I have no memory of them. I just kinda make my way throughout the world."  
  
Harry couldn't imagine how it affected her so little.  
  
Leia finished her ice cream, " Yum, that was good."  
  
It suddenly struck Harry how strange it was to be having this conversation with a complete stranger.  
  
" Why are you telling me all this?"  
  
She shrugged. "I trust you."  
  
"But…why?"  
  
Leia lowered her voice- just a little. "You are …the white wizard."  
  
Wizard. How did she know? 


	3. Living with Leia

Disclaimer: I do not own the magical world of Harry Potter or anything connected (except my plot and Leia). They belong to JK Rowling and (unfortunately) Warner Bros.  
  
Notes: Sorry it took so long for the last chapter to come out, I hope this chapter hasn't taken too long either. Also, I know it's a short chapter, but I really wanted to get something up- plus, I love leaving you guys with cliff hangers* heh heh*. And thank you so much to my Reviewers: Sarah Black- I'll keep your comment in mind- and Eleanor Branstone- thanks for being supportive. And without further ado, chapter 3!  
  
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"W-white wizard? Wh-what do you mean?" Harry became alert.  
  
"You're the Wizard." Said Leia simply.  
  
"But how do you- oh, I get it." Said Harry. " You're a witch too, aren't you, and just don't go to Hogwarts."  
  
Leia didn't look surprised, "Me? Oh, no I'm no witch. What's a hog wart?"  
  
Harry stammered, " But…you're a muggle- how do you know"  
  
Leia of course didn't know what a muggle was, but smiled anyway, "I just do. I always have, in way. I just knew that the wizards were there. But I saw you and I realized that you," she lowered her voice again, " you are the White Wizard."  
  
"What do you mean?" Harry demanded, frazzled.  
  
Now Leia looked slightly surprised, "You mean you don't know?"  
  
"No! Of course not!" said the frustrated boy.  
  
"Oh. Then I don't know exactly what I mean. That's too bad. I thought a wizard would know."  
  
"You don't know?"  
  
"Of course not. I'm no wizard. I just know," She straightened and her eyes grew clear, yet they focused on nothing. " There is the White Wizard and the Black Wizard. In the end of everything and nothing, it will depend on them."  
  
She blinked, " Oh. Funny. I never knew that before."  
  
"Then how could you just suddenly know?" Harry was very confused about this strange girl.  
  
" Dunno." She seemed undisturbed. She looked towards the huge clock in the middle of the station as it began to chime. "It's 9. Now I can turn in."  
  
"Oh. Nice meeting you." Harry felt abashed, than very foolish. He didn't know her. He wouldn't ever see her again.  
  
She suddenly looked at him intently, then gave a light smile, almost the opposite of the intenseness of her look a second ago. "Do you have anywhere to go?"  
  
" Well…no."  
  
"Come with me." Leia stood up, brushed back her hair, and walked out in front of the counter. She took his hand and began to pull him along behind her. Harry grabbed his stuff and went.  
  
1 Why are you doing this? It could be a trap. You have no reason to go. Stop! The rational side of his mind said. But part of him knew that she could be trusted. Blind instinct told him that Leia was good.  
  
"In here" They hadn't gone far, just to a door in the diner's kitchen. They went through.  
  
Inside the walls were a depressing grey. There were a few hard cushions thrown about and a plastic chair. It was small and dark.  
  
"What are we doing here?" said Harry, shrinking away from the bleakness of it.  
  
"Mr. Boorgish lets me sleep here as part of the exchange for my work." She said.  
  
Harry asked, " Doesn't it ever get a bit depressing?"  
  
Leia lightly sprang onto a pile of cushions in the corner. "It's not like I've lived here for more than a couple of months. Besides, whenever the gets to me too much, it becomes light. I don't like the dark."  
  
" How does it get light?"  
  
"I dunno. You ask a lot of questions, don't you?"  
  
Harry was taken aback. He didn't mean to be insulting or anything, "I, er, well, I'm sorry."  
  
She laughed- a light, burbling sound like a brook over pebbles. It flowed out of her mouth and filled the room until the air seemed to be made of delicate gold.  
  
"No, no, I don't mind. That's a good thing."  
  
"Oh." Why couldn't he think of anything interesting to say?  
  
"You should get some sleep." Leia threw some pillows at him and turned over on her pile. She closed her huge pale eyes and said "Good night."  
  
Harry set down his things and laid on the pillows. "Good night."  
  
  
  
Harry was stuck on a pile of rocks. He was being pushed back and forth, and a distant voice was calling his name. He felt trapped, but now the voice was coming closer, a comforting sound  
  
"Harry! Harry!" He woke. Harry groaned and sat up. He felt like he had spent the night on a pile of rocks.  
  
"I didn't know when you had to go, but if you want to eat before any customers get here, now would be a good time." Said Leia  
  
" But what time is it?" Harry asked groggily.  
  
"5:00; that's not too early, is it? But like I said, we should eat breakfast before any customers get here and we have some commuters who get here by 5:30."  
  
"Okay, I'm getting up."  
  
"Of course you are. I'll see you out there in a few minutes."  
  
Fifteen minutes later Harry had managed to get up and straighten himself out a little. He had slept in his only muggle clothes and now they were all wrinkled. Nevertheless, he walked out to the diner's little kitchen, rubbing his back. Leia was at the shiny, silvery stove frying some bacon and flipping a few pancakes. She was humming. She turned to flip a pancake and saw Harry.  
  
" Good Morning!"  
  
Harry sat down, " How can you stand sleeping there at night?"  
  
She shrugged, "Beats the station floor. Not as nice as some places I've been, I'll admit, but it works. I've been to all sorts of places without a home. I don't know if I'd like one or not. I can't remember ever being in one."  
  
Harry was grumpy, "Oh yeah. Your mysterious past, being on the streets without any trace of why you're there."  
  
Leia, rather than looking very hurt, just looked confused. "It's not that I'm trying to be mysterious. I don't know how I got there. I just can't ever remember another type of life."  
  
Harry, having drunk some water, was feeling more awake and realized how rude he must of sounded. He felt a bit awkward, but Leia served them both pancakes quite normally and the tenseness broke.  
  
  
  
" These are really good," Harry said through a mouthful of pancakes.  
  
Leia shrugged, " Thanks. I try to make them little differently each time. I guess this time they worked out all right."  
  
As Leia had predicted, some customers arrived early for breakfast. After that, Leia was fairly busy. Harry tried to help a little, but he had no experience with cooking or waiting, so after a bit Leia asked him to sit down and stay out of the way. Harry kept looking at the clock, waiting for 11:00 to roll around. He'd be out of the station, be at Hogwarts, never have to worry about anything concerning King's Cross until next year. With a twinge, he realized he'd never see Leia again. Why did it bother him so much? He barely knew her.  
  
Finally, at ten o'clock, he leapt up and went into the back room to get his things. He figured it wouldn't be too early to arrive at platform nine and three-quarters. He came into the kitchen and almost ran smack dab into Leia. She had an urgent expression or her face.  
  
"Quick," said Leia, "Do you know anywhere where there are lots of wizards nearby?"  
  
"Well, there's platform nine and three-quarters—"  
  
"Take us there. Now."  
  
"What's the rush?"  
  
Leia's eyes turned up and bore into his. " The Dark One is coming. He knows where we are." 


End file.
